Episode 1 That Lovely MiracleAira is based on the manga by mangaka by Kozue Amano, it’s just started airing it’s third season titled Aria the Origination, this first season was a short 13 episode series that was first broadcast in the autumn of 2005 titled Aria the Animation, then in the spring of 2006 a second season was aired it’s title was Aria the Natural, also last September a single episode OVA was released Aria ~ Arietta~.As he anime begins, the main character Mizunashi Akari is talking to the cat, President Aria Pokoteng, president of the Aria Company. Aria is the gondola company that fifteen year old Akari is apprenticed to; the only other member of the company is nineteen year old Alicia who’s the most popular undine. Undine’s is a term for the gondoliers who act as tour guides in the city of Neo-Venezia. Neo-Venezia is located on the terra formed planet, Mars now called Aqua which is appropriate for a planet with so much water. It’s set in the twenty fourth century but aside from weather and gravity control it’s pretty retro as most things are done by hand, unlike Manhome the new name for Earth. Neo-Venezia is modeled on Earth’s Venice with a very similar layout, including buildings, squares and bridges. Akari is a new immigrant to Aqua from Manhome and the series explores the world of Aqua, the city and the characters that she meets as each episode she discovers something new about her new home.I think that at least the first two series along with the OVA are the best slice of life anime I’ve seen and that is one of my favorite genre’s of anime. I would highly recommend this series to slice of life fans who enjoyed Hidamari Sketch or Kamichu!, both of them, animes that I also loved. Tea Shop BeLoved has an excellent post comparing the ADV release of the Aria manga with the Tokyopop release.Download the entire first and second season along with the OVA of Crystalnova's fansub from their tracker here.
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